舞HiME 檻銀 Mai HiME Origin
by AthenAltena
Summary: 300 years before the final HiME Festival, the girls chosen by destiny begin to converge. But someone is determined to interfere for their own ends, and use any means necessary... Rating for violence, adult themes, and darkness.
1. Part I

舞-HiME 檻銀

Mai-HiME Origin: Part I

**_Edo, Japan, September 7, 1705, 105__th__ year of the Tokugawa Shogunate_**

"I don't understand."

In a richly decorated house in Edo, a young woman stood opposite a man. She could barely make out his face, but there was just enough light for her to discern his piercing blue eyes.

"Listen to me," the man said coarsely, with a trace of a foreign accent. "They are coming. If we knew you existed then there's no way that they don't know. You're in great danger, so let's go!" he reached out and grabbed her wrist, but she twisted out of it easily and backed away towards the open window from which he'd come a few moments ago.

"I could scream," she said nervously, unconsciously pulling her red kimono tighter around her body. "I don't know what you want with me, but all it takes is one scream and the whole of the Utsusemi family guard will be here to tear you apart!"

"No, you don't understand, stupid girl!" the man hissed, advancing towards her. "I'm here to save you! If you just come with me, I'll take you to Fuuka, and then…"

He was interrupted by a piercing scream from down the hall. The girl's eyes went wide.

"Momoka!" she began to run forward, but the man grabbed her and hoisted her over his shoulder like a sack of rice.

"I'm sorry, young lady," he said, ignoring the kicks to various parts of his anatomy. "But my mission is to rescue you and you alone."

"Put me down!" she protested, banging her fists on his shoulders, only to find that he was wearing heavy padding. "That's – _That's my sister_! Hey! I can handle myself, Mr. I-don't-know-who-you-are!"

"Oh no you can't," he muttered, taking off down the hall and running past several confused servants. "Trust me, Princess; your guard is already gone, and you don't stand a chance against them."

"Princess?" she repeated, rolling the unfamiliar foreign word around in her mouth. "What do you mean?"

Up ahead three shadows suddenly took corporeal form. The man cursed in that same odd language and threw her backwards over his shoulder, where she landed against the wall with a dull _thud._

"Run away, Princess!" he called, suddenly producing an odd barrel-shaped device from his sleeve. "Go to Fuuka! That's where –!"

He never finished, as a dozen black barbs suddenly sprouted from his chest. He was alive just long enough to stare at them in shock before he slumped forward, a trickle of blood coming from his mouth.

The girl screamed and ran, aware that there were already footsteps behind her. She ducked into one of the side rooms and hid herself in one of the servant's passages, listening to the screams coming from various parts of the house.

"Why is this happening?" she muttered to herself, burying her head in her hands. "Is it because of my mark?" She set her jaw and stood up, extending her hands out from her body.

"I'm sorry, father," she said, wondering if he was even still alive. "But I have to break my promise." She took a breath. "_Hari_!"

The small space was suddenly filled with a roaring wind as two tonfa materialized in her hands. She twirled them over her head and brought them down with an air-splitting cut, leaving in its wake a tiger-shaped being who watched her with oddly intelligent eyes. She walked over and scratched him behind where the ears would be on a normal animal.

"I'm sorry, Hari, this has gotten out of control," she sighed and wrapped her arms around the big creature's shoulders. He made a sound halfway between a mew and a bark, and she managed a smile.

"That man said to go to Fuuka, wherever that is. Do you know anything about that?"

In response he nodded his head, much as a human would, and motioned for her to follow. She tied back her long dark hair, shed her wooden sandals, and bounded after him down the corridor in only her socks, occasionally pausing to fend off the mysterious black-clothed people who seemed to come out of the shadows.

With her tonfa and Hari's wind they moved quickly towards the old escape passages in the North quadrant of the house. She knew they hadn't been used since the Sengoku period, but she just had to hope they were still in working order and that the invaders hadn't gotten there first.

As they rounded a corner Hari suddenly paused and planted his feet on the floor firmly, giving off a growl that seemed to make the air vibrate. She looked over his shoulder and cried out in horror.

"Mother!"

Up ahead she could see that one of the black-clothed men had a knife raised to the throat of her mother, for once without her finery and makeup.

"Utsusemi Hoko!" he called, pressing the blade against her mother's white throat and drawing a small trickle of blood. "You are under arrest for treason against the Shogunate! Surrender and we will make accommodations for your family members!"

She hesitated, feeling the beginnings of tears stinging at her eyes. Her mother managed to make eye contact and nodded, just once, while mouthing a single word.

"Go."

Fighting back tears, she brought the tonfa down and cried out, slicing both the man and her mother to ribbons. She ran past them as quickly as she could and tried not to look at them, instead focusing on running ahead. They'd discussed this once before, and her mother had made it clear that in a pinch she would be willing to give up her life. Hoko had hoped that she'd never have to take her up on the offer, but now there was no turning back.

"I have to get to Fuuka," she sobbed, holding onto Hari's back for support as she ran. "I have to, for Mother, and everyone –!"

Something cold and heavy slid between her ribs, cutting off her breath. Her tonfa dropped to the floor, where they exploded into a shower of green sparks. She tried to scream, but all that came out was a small squeak. It was all she could do to turn and look at the person who had stabbed her out of the corner of her eye, but there was just a mass of shadow in a vaguely human shape.

Hari roared and lurched forward, his body already beginning to dissolve into those same deadly sparks. She tried to speak his name, but before she could she felt the knife in her body twist savagely, and her vision went black.

Without so much as a cry she dropped like a stone, and while Hari had just enough strength for one last lunge at his mistress's killer, his paw merely passed through the figure, which dissipated like smoke to re-form a few feet away. It was over.

Across the room one of the black-clad men appeared from behind an ornamental and stepped over the body of his comrade and Mistress Utsusemi, making a disgusted face at the carnage.

"What a mess," he commented blithely, pulling his face mask up to block the smell of blood. He turned towards the shadowy figure standing over the body of the girl. "I told you we should have just stuck a knife in her _before_ she awakened, Kaede. It would have spared us a lot of grief."

The ninja pulled down her face mask and sighed, throwing her comrade an annoyed look.

"Strategy never has been your strong suite, Minoru, but I expected better of you," she glanced over her shoulder and nodded at something behind her. In the air that had been filled with shadow a gigantic monstrous toad briefly took shape before it vanished into thin air.

"You see, by doing this," she continued, nudging the body of the girl with her foot so she rolled to lie face up. "We killed two birds with one stone. The amount of traitorous blood spilled tonight will be far greater than what we lost."

"Oh?" Minoru said, flipping a knife between his fingers. "How so?"

"That man," Kaede muttered, nearly spitting the words. "His coming here proved that those foreigners have been meddling in this all along."

She glanced up briefly as another person entered from one of the side doors, carrying the head of the blue-eyed man by the hair on his head. Kaede knelt down and pulled out one of the man's hairs, squinting at in the dim light.

"Hair dye," she said with contempt. "If they honestly think that was enough to fool us, they've severely underestimated the Shogunate. Heads will roll at Dejima tonight."

"Well, that's a given," Minoru shrugged and glanced briefly at girl. "But what about here? The Utsusemi Family has a lot of power in Edo. This will start quite a stir among the nobles, so what are we supposed to tell them when they ask?"

"You're looking at the answer," she motioned towards the head. "By tomorrow morning we'll have a sign outside saying that the Utsusemi Family was executed for treason against the Shogunate and conspiring with foreigners," she glanced down at the body of the girl. "And make something up about this girl carrying on an illicit affair with him just to make sure no one sympathizes. Make it as tawdry as possible."

Minoru bowed and gave her a crooked grin.

"You're a shrewd agent, Kaede. But all things considered," he looked again at the bodies of mother and daughter. "We probably did them a favor executing them like this in their own home. We could have just wheeled them out to the Tomb of the Traitors and done it in public. Also, we confirmed that Master Utsusemi is alive – until we execute him, at least – so our theory on the connection with the beasts was correct."

She nodded, narrowing her eyes as she stared at the girl's face. She was pretty in a typical sort of way, and was unmistakably a noble. If it weren't for the mark on her shoulder that one of Kaede's agents had seen during their "inspection" of Edo's noble daughters under the guise of a health exam she would have had nothing particularly extraordinary about her.

"Minoru," she asked, moving towards one of the elaborate gardens on the far side of the house. "What number does this make?"

"If you mean the ones you've killed yourself, four," he reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out a small slip of paper, making a mark with a bit of charcoal. "In total we've gotten seven of them. That leaves only three, minus yourself and Sakuya-ojou-sama."

Kaede set her jaw and opened one of the screens, moving into the garden that overlooked the harbor. She glanced briefly at a statue of the Buddha near her and made a face. It looked like it was laughing at her.

"Don't get complacent, Minoru," she said. "They'll get harder from here. These ones were just the most obvious, but the three who are left are good at hiding themselves, " she fixed him with an icy stare. "Be on guard. So far we've been the attackers, but this late in the game they might try to get the jump on us."

"Yes, Ma'am," he said with a bow. "Should we concentrate our efforts on Fuuka itself now?"

"Yes, do that," she said, crouching in preparation for a jump. "I'll report back to Sakuya-ojou-sama and meet you there in two days."

And with that she was gone, leaving only a small disturbance in the undergrowth as any indication she'd been there. Minoru glanced out over the water and imagined the screams that must be rising up from Dejima at this very moment.

This would all come to an end soon.

**- End Part I**

--

**Notes:** Given that this is my own version of the HiME-verse combined with our own historical world, there are a few points that might require explanation. At the end of chapters this will be a collection of various notes about the setting, HiME-verse, and why I did what I did.

**The Title**: The title of this, Origin (or檻銀 in kanji) is a pun like most of the Mai series titles. While it means Origin as in the beginning of something, the kanji literally read as "cage of silver", which will be touched upon again later.

**Utsusemi**: This family name is something of an in-joke. When I first watched the original _Mai-HiME_ I mistook Akane Higurashi's surname to mean "cicada" (since I was also watching _Higurashi no naku Koro ni_ at the same time) though it is actually read as "evening". Utsusemi means "cicada shell" and references a chapter of _The Tale of Genji_ and one of Genji's many attempted paramours. Like Akane, Hoko is the first casualty we actually see.

**Dejima**: This refers to the island in Nagasaki Bay where foreigners were permitted during the Tokugawa Shogunate's rule. Foreigners on the island were not allowed to leave without explicit permission from the Shogun, and even then what they did see of Japan was mostly staged and controlled by the Shogun's agents.

**Tomb of the Traitors**: The Tokugawa Shogunate was not known for its compassion towards its enemies, and in one infamous case the family of Totoyomi Hideyoshi, one of Tokugawa Ieyasu's rivals, were slaughtered and had their bodies carted away and displayed a hill that was named the Tomb of the Traitors.

**-ojou-sama**: This is a fancy way of referring to the person one serves. We will see more of Sakuya later, but for now all we need to know is that she has a lot of power and Kaede is subservient to her.


	2. Part II

_**Fuuka Shrine**_

Mashiro stared at a candle on the altar of Izanami, concentrating as hard as she could on making the flame move. She'd done it before by accident, but she wondered if she could do it on purpose if she tired hard enough.

She blinked. Had it wavered just a little bit then? She glanced around to check that no one had let in a draft, but all the doors were still closed. Now more determined than ever, she turned back to the candle. If she did this a couple times a day she was sure that it would eventually work. And if it did, maybe she could show it to Rei.

As she stared at the wavering light a sort of trance settled over her, and before she knew it her eyes had begun to drift shut, as if weighed down by something heavy. She almost could make out the voice of someone close to her, but far away. If she just moved a little closer…

"_Mashiro!"_

She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Hokuto's voice and quickly busied herself with cleaning the altar, what she was supposed to have been doing. She glanced briefly at the candle and sighed. She'd just have to try again some other time.

"Mashiro!" Hokuto slid open the far door and walked inside, briefly putting her hands together and bowing to the altar. A lock of brown hair briefly fell out of her bun into her face, which she brushed out of the way. "There you are! I thought you'd like to know that Onii-san just walked through the front gate."

"Rei's back?!" Mashiro cried, dropping the cleaning cloth she had been holding. Hokuto smiled as Mashiro rushed past her and only barely remembered to bow to the image of Izanami before once again taking off towards the entrance to the Shrine.

Once Mashiro was gone Hokuto sighed and glanced at the altar. Something like anger briefly flashed in her gold eyes, but it was soon replaced by her usual look of sisterly concern.

"So she came to you, eh?" she said to the image of the Goddess. "You've always been her favorite. Some part of her must know your connection."

Hokuto reached into her sleeve and drew out a riceball, which she placed among the offerings to the Goddess.

"Here, it's not much, but it should help to ease the pain."

She clapped her hands together and bowed.

Outside, Mashiro skid to a halt in front of the red torii gates and stopped to catch her breath. She spotted a familiar figure standing by the fountain with Kogyo, the head priest.

"Rei!" she called, sprinting towards them across the cobblestone courtyard, brushing by several visitors in a very un-miko-like fashion. It was easy enough to tell among of the half-dozen worshippers who had been to the Fuuka Shrine before were and who was new, as those who were familiar with the Shrine simply smiled in Mashiro's direction, while the newcomers looked anywhere from puzzled to outright disgusted at her display.

The young man barely had time to turn around before she'd thrown herself onto him, and they collapsed into a laughing pile of askew limbs.

Kogyo made a face and cleared his throat. Mashiro laughed nervously and scrambled to her feet, trying to look prim and proper despite the dust and leaves that was now thoroughly covering her red hakama.

"It's alright, Kogyo-sama," Rei said, rising to his feet and brushing off of his shoulders. He was a handsome young man, and shared Hokuto's friendly demeanor and golden eyes, and was widely considered to be a supreme catch by the local women, though both he and his twin still refused to marry despite being of age at 16. "We both know that no trip to Fuuka Shrine is complete without a proper welcome from Mashiro-chan." He grinned at her like a wolf. "Besides, don't they say that miko-tackles are good for one's health?"

She giggled, and Kogyo continued to glare at both of them.

"Mashiro," he said sternly. "Rei-san and I were just discussing the details of his trip. I imagine he's rather thirsty after all that walking."

"Hold on, Kogyo-sama," Rei said, reaching into his pack. "Let me just give Mashiro-chan something before I forget."

He rifled around for a moment before he made an accomplished sound, drawing out a small crystal phoenix with bits of gold accenting its head and wings and holding it out to her.

"It's… it's beautiful," Mashiro gasped, taking it carefully and turning it around in her hands. "Oh Rei, you shouldn't have! How much did this cost? I…"

He waved off her question, leaning down to directly meet her oddly green eyes.

"Don't worry about. As soon as I saw it in Edo I knew I had to get it for you. It suits you."

She blushed and bowed awkwardly, and upon meeting Kogyo's stony glare, turned around and rushed back towards the main temple, muttering something about getting them both water. Rei watched her go and smiled.

"Rei-san," Kogyo said sternly while shaking his head. "I was going to ask if you still fancied Mashiro as your future wife after your trip, but you just went and answered my question for me."

Rei shrugged.

"Can you blame me? She's a sweet girl, and sweet girls deserve nice things."

"Rei," Kogyo continued, notably dropping the honorific. "This isn't child's play. You aren't Hikaru Genji, and you shouldn't be filling up her head with silly ideas. Especially not with _that_ coming up."

"On the contrary," Rei said, straightening to meet Kogyo's gaze squarely. "I'm doing her a favor. If I get her used to the idea now it'll be easier for her to accept when the time comes."

"Wha – '_When the time comes'_!" Kogyo spat. "Rei, you shouldn't be talking like that! You can't just pick favorites like some noble lord, there's a procedure to this! You should know that better than anyone, you –!"

"I do know that," Rei narrowed his eyes, his voice dropping to a dangerous level. "And I know I'm prohibited from interfering directly. However, I can still help her if it doesn't violate the rules." He shrugged, the hardness of a moment before replaced by his usual carefree demeanor. "Besides, Nagi hasn't said anything, and he's the one in charge of upholding the rules."

"Nagi is a sadistic bastard who has his own entertainment as his main concern," Kogyo countered, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "And even _without_ all that she's still only 11 years old. It's not kind to play with a young girl's affections like that."

"In other parts of the country young girls are starting to have _children_ at 11, Kogyo, keep that in mind," Rei said darkly. "Just how long to you plan to keep her in this comfy cage? Fuuka isn't the rest of the world, and she'll have to face the outside someday. We _all _care about what will happen to her – you, Hokuto, _and_ I – and you have no right to claim that you're any better than I am just because you fancy yourself as her father."

Kogyo grit his teeth, but was prevented from saying anything else by the return of Mashiro, who came bearing water for the two men and a small bottle of sake for later. Rei thanked her, once again making her blush, and Kogyo glared at both of them.

Somewhere above the treetops, a white-haired boy began to grin.

**_Edo, the Shogun's Castle_**

"Sakuya-ojou-sama," Kaede began, keeping her eyes on the throne room floor, where she knelt in front of the platform of her mistress. "I have destroyed another of your rivals. Now there are only three left in our way."

Up on the platform, a young woman nodded in approval. Tokugawa Sakuya, the only daughter of the Shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, was a force to be reckoned with. Though she sat wrapped in several layers of heavy red and yellow robes and was dwarfed by the sheer scale of the room, the girl underneath was no delicate flower. Unlike many girls of similar rank, Sakuya was as well-trained in the martial arts as any high-ranking lord's son, and – if her reputation was to be believed – twice as deadly when angered. It was thought that Sakuya had inherited the usual Tokugawa tenacity that her father lacked, and it could only be hoped that she had not inherited her father's mad tendencies.

"Excellent," she said, scratching the ears of the hunting dog who was seated on the platform beside her. "Now we will begin the last stage of the plan. Once we set up in Fuuka we can see to finding the remaining two."

Kaede blinked, unsure if she'd heard correctly.

"The remaining two, Ojou-sama?"

"Yes, that was a development that occurred while you were away. They must not have had time to inform you of that yet," Sakuya folded her hands into her sleeves before she continued. "One of Father's intelligence agents confirmed that at least one is in Fuuka itself, in a place we never thought to look."

Kaede thought about this for a moment before lowering her head to the floor.

"My apologies, Ojou-sama. It is my fault that we have not found this one until now, I…"

"Rise, Kaede," Sakuya said firmly, not waiting for her to finish. "You were still crawling on the ground when this took place. Back when we first learned of the mark 15 years ago we checked every girl in the country, house by house. But we never thought to look closest to us." She sighed and twirled a lock of black hair between her fingers. "Father has made arrangements for the one responsible for this oversight to be executed. But we did find the missing girl through a tip from one of our loyal subjects."

She slid a piece of paper across the floor to Kaede, who took it and read the message aloud, noting the poor peasant's sloppiness in his characters:

"_On the fourth day of the fourth month I witnessed a demon attack on our village. I thought I was a goner, but a giant purple serpent with many heads appeared and destroyed the demon. On its back I saw a beautiful woman in a kimono with an obi bearing the crest of the Fujiwara Clan…"_

Kaede paused and looked up a Sakuya.

"Saya-sama!" she said breathlessly.

"Yes, I was shocked when I heard that as well," Sakuya bit her lip, her dark brown eyes burning with anger. "To think that the girl I played with as a child has been conspiring against me from the beginning! This will not stand!"

Kaede bowed again, reaching down to touch the knife at her side.

"I understand, Sakuya-ojou-sama. I will go to Fuuka and eliminate Saya-sama. This treason will not be tolerated…!"

"Wait, Kaede," Sakuya said, rising to her feet and shrugging off the heavy outer robe she wore over inner crimson-red kimono. "I will eliminate Saya myself. She has done personal injury to me, and I will seek vengeance against her."

Kaede opened her mouth to speak, but promptly shut it, thinking better of it.

"I understand, Sakuya-ojou-sama. I will begin preparing for your journey to Fuuka, and I will notify the troops at once."

She touched her head to the ground again and backed up until she was on the other side of the rear screen, and closed it in front of her with a _snap_. Once she was on the other side she mouthed a curse and rose to her feet, motioning for the guard who had been standing guard by the door to follow.

"You didn't try to argue with her, Kaede-sama?" he asked once they were out of earshot. Kaede huffed and pulled her mask up to conceal her mouth.

"It would be like talking to a wall. She's been cooped up here in Edo all this time, only _hearing_ about us eliminating the others. She wants to get her hands dirty, and I can't stop her."

"But Kaede-sama," he dropped his voice to almost a whisper. "I thought…"

"Quiet, you fool!" she hissed, popping one of her knives out of its sheath and holding it to his throat. "Sakuya-ojou-sama is not deaf! She might hear us!" she lowered the knife and looked away, her eyes moving over the painted screens lining the hall that depicted the victories of the first Tokugawa Shogun a century before. "If I forbid her to take revenge against Saya-sama she will become suspicious. All I can do is back her up and try to minimize the risk of her being harmed. And if that fails…"

The guard bowed and began to back away, sensing the change in her mood.

"I understand, Kaede-sama, I will notify the others that we may have to sever the Red String if things go awry." He promptly turned on his heel and began to move away, no doubt to find and contact the other members of the Shogun's elite guard – the ones even Sakuya didn't know existed.

Once he was gone Kaede was left alone, and removed the cloth covering on her head, letting her dark brown hair fall freely past her shoulders, and tied it back with a strand of cloth from a pouch at her waist. She would have to prepare for the trip to Fuuka quickly, and that meant switching from her tough, commanding bodyguard persona to her other identity – that of Sakuya's loyal lady-in-waiting, and all the femininity and false kindness that came with it.

The switch was never easy for her to make mentally, but now with much more on the line than usual the strain was beginning to catch up to her. She glanced briefly at her reflection in one of the polished pieces of armor hanging from the wall and saw that her eyes were bloodshot – something that absolutely would not do in her other persona.

She closed her eyes and swore, throwing her knife into a nearby wall, where it landed with a dull _thud_. She stared at the crack in the wood that had spread out from the point of impact.

"I will not fail," she said under her breath, yanking the knife out by the handle and re-sheathing it briskly. "No matter what it takes."

- **End Part II**

--

**Notes: **This was a slower chapter than the last, but it will pick up next chapter, and some questions will be answered then. Once again there are a few cultural references and explanations here that may help you understand the story better.

**Izanami: **Izanami and her husband Izanagi are credited with being the Gods who created the eight historical islands of Japan. She'll come up again later, so for now this is all we need to know about her.

**Hikaru Genji:** The protagonist of the world's first novel, the _Tale Of Genji _by Murasaki Shikibu, Genji was the son of the Emperor of Japan and a notorious ladies' man with a long list of paramours. He's perhaps most famous for adopting a young girl named Murasaki and raising her to become his wife when she reached the proper age, hence Kogyo's reference to Rei thinking of himself as Hikaru Genji because of his relationship with Mashiro.

**Rei and Hokuto:** These were originally just placeholder names until I could come up with something better, but they ended up sticking. Rei's name is written the same way as his descendent Reito's, and literally means "black", while Hokuto's name means "North Star" and has no real meaning other than the fact that it sounds similar to Mikoto.

**Tokugawa Tsunayoshi:** Popularly known as the Dog Shogun, Tsunayoshi ruled between 1680 and 1709 and was widely considered to be out of his mind, in part due to a series of strange laws that, among other things, prohibited any citizens from harming any dogs at the penalty of death (this is also why Sakuya has a dog up on the platform with her).


	3. Part III

_**The Searrs Foundation temporary headquarters on the HMS Gylden, about 10 miles off the Eastern cost of China**_

"John Smith failed."

The Searrs President folded his hands and frowned, staring at the letter in front of him. The letter itself had been through a lot just by the look of it, but after being transported wrapped in seaweed, rice, and several other creative ways of hiding it – at least one of which involved being swallowed – it was only natural that it had taken a beating. But the message had survived, and the last desperate words of the unfortunate emissaries at Dejima were clear for all to read.

_John Smith is dead. Shogun is coming for us. Hail the Golden Millennium._

The President sighed and gestured to one of his aides, who quickly removed the piece of paper before its unique smell spread around the room.

"So that's over and done with," one of the trustees said, looking over his pince-nez at the President. "It appears that trying to recruit one of the Princesses was a bad plan."

"We should have known better," another across the table muttered. "Those people are far too paranoid about foreigners to trust any of us. Smith was probably thought to be some sort of rapist by the locals and strung up for even _looking_ at one of their women."

There was a moment of silence as the gathered members pondered the fate of their lost agent. But it was not in the Searrs way of thinking to dwell too long on the past, and their thoughts soon turned to the future.

"But thanks to John Smith, what we now know of the people of Cipangu we can use to narrow the focus of our future leaders. We must move away from recruitment of the natives to naturalization of our own agents within the environment," the President said, sitting up in his chair. "300 years is a long time, and by then we will have a way to create one of the Princesses in our own image and ensure her complete loyalty. Until then, we will just have to bide our time and wait for the wheel to turn."

"Don't worry, President," the newly appointed John Smith said, stepping out from the shadows. "We will get our Golden Millennium, one way or another." Something wicked glistened in the depths of his eyes. "My successors will see to it that the Princesses of the future become the Valkyries that lead us to our glorious Promised Land."

A scattering of agreement went up among the board members, and the ship began to turn slowly towards the New World, where Searrs would begin preparations for their next chance to change the course of history.

_**On a cliff above the Estate of the Fujiwara Noble Family, Fuuka**_

Minoru yawned and sat back in his perch at the top of the cliff. He'd staked this place out chiefly since it gave him a full view of both the elaborate grounds of the estate below him, but it was also enough out of the way that no one would be able to find it unless they knew its location beforehand. Kaede's couriers were the only ones who knew exactly where he was, but they weren't due to meet up with him again until around sunset.

And even if someone did find him, the samurai disguise he'd thrown together consisting of a black jacket emblazoned with some backwater warlord's crest would be enough to keep people from asking too many questions. And even if they dared to ask about why he wore his hair short instead of in the proper topknot style, he had two real swords and a plethora of knives hidden up the conveniently wide sleeves. If that wasn't enough insurance, he didn't know what was.

Suddenly feeling hungry, he reached into his pack and withdrew a piece of jerky, which he promptly popped into his mouth and began to chew. He had enough to last him until sometime tomorrow, but knowing Kaede she'd be there long before then. For now he just had to play lookout and make sure that no one came or went without them knowing.

Movements down below made him pop out the telescope in his waist-pouch to get a better look. He made out a group of five or six people carrying a large wooden box on their shoulders and several figures in white ahead of it. He relaxed and collapsed the telescope again. It was just some worshippers headed up the mountain to the Shrine.

He slowly settled into his state of half-awareness in order to conserve his energy, realizing that since it was late in the afternoon, it would be some time before anything else was likely to happen. In this state any movement would catch his attention, but he wouldn't be wasting energy looking at things that weren't moving. He'd learned the trick from watching Kaede meditate, though she was still unaware of this. He smirked slightly. At some point he'd show her, just to see the look on her face.

What could have been several moments or several hours passed, with very little going on below him besides an occasional local or cart, and he settled into the rhythm of the surrounding countryside, almost becoming a part of the cliff itself. He could clearly see where the Lady Fujiwara was sitting on her balcony, and so far she had done nothing besides drink tea and enjoy the daylight.

In light of the beautiful view, he found himself daydreaming about when he'd have finally served the Shogun long enough to get his own land, and how he'd find someplace like this and settle down. He was still young enough that his job was exciting, but he'd seen enough of his colleagues age a decade in half as many years enough to know how much of a strain it was, and he didn't intend to let that kill him.

He sighed and leaned forward slightly on his arms, turning his gaze briefly towards the blue expanse of the ocean on the horizon. If he had to die before he was an old man, he'd much rather have someone stick a knife in him than keel over from stress.

The sharp _snap_ of a twig behind him jerked out of his daydreaming, and his hand instinctively went to the knife hidden in his sleeve. He mentally suppressed the jolt of panic that shot up his spine at the thought that someone had come to ambush him, and slowly turned his body in the direction the noise had come from.

It was just a man in his late teens dressed in a light kimono, straw sandals, and a wide-brimmed hat – typical traveler's clothes. Minoru had to mentally remind himself that despite the two swords at his waist and the fake crest on his jacket he was just about the furthest thing from a real samurai there could be, and it would be downright foolhardy to assume that this young man was also entirely what he appeared to be.

"Oh dear," the man blinked and bowed apologetically. "Did I startle you, Samurai-san?"

Minoru relaxed slightly – at least his disguise was convincing. He feigned embarrassment and rose to his feet, deciding that acting young and clueless would probably be the best tactic.

"Ah yes, I dozed off a bit there, so I was a bit surprised," he put his hand behind his head and laughed awkwardly. "I didn't think that anyone was going to come up this way."

"Not many people do," the man responded calmly, glancing out at the view. "Which is a pity, since I happen to think this spot has the best views of Fuuka that one can find without trespassing."

Minoru narrowed his eyes slightly and looked carefully at the man's face. Why did this guy look familiar…?

"I'm glad you didn't fall off the cliff," the man continued with a worried smile. "I almost ran forward to catch you when you turned around, since I was afraid that was what was going to happen."

"Thank you for your concern," Minoru said, hiding his suspicions under a goofy smile. "I can be a bit careless like that."

Minoru was still undecided as to what exactly was going on here. The way the man was speaking just reeked of double meanings, but he hadn't heard any of the code words the Shogun's spies used to identify themselves yet. Plus, he didn't look or act like any of the other couriers Kaede had sent so far, and they would already be talking business and not playing these stupid games.

Something stank about this.

"Well, I'll be on my way, then," the man said, bowing again and turning away. "I live further up the mountain, and I probably shouldn't be out for much longer. It gets dark quickly around here."

That cinched it. Minoru was now convinced that something else was afoot, as he'd just used one of the phrases that in spy-speak meant "watch your back, we have people too." Minoru palmed one of the daggers up his sleeve and moved quickly across the clearing, bringing the knife up to the man's throat before he'd managed to completely turn around.

"I know I've seen you before," Minoru caught the man in a hold with his free arm, effectively preventing any possibility of escape. "It's those weird gold eyes. You were at the market in Edo. Who are you working for?"

Rei twisted his head and just barely managed to catch Minoru's eye, given the odd position he was in.

"I don't know what you mean by that, but I _was_ just in Edo on business. Like I said, I live up here with my sister. My name is Minagi Rei, you can check with the locals, they all know who I am and can vouch for me. And I can assure you that I'm not armed – you can check, I really don't mind."

Minoru marched Rei over to a nearby tree and pat him down, though given the thin traveling clothes he was wearing there was simply not enough room to hide any weapons, and his search turned up nothing.

"Are you following me?" Minoru said, still thoroughly unconvinced, and made sure to put enough pressure on the blade to convey his seriousness.

Rei met Minoru's angry green eyes evenly, not even a hint of nervousness crossing his face.

"I can assure you that I'm not purposely following you, Samurai-san."

Minoru grit his teeth. He'd blown his cool and let on too much already, but he could still do some damage control on this. Kaede would have just killed the guy and moved on, but he was still reluctant to do the same, even though he knew he didn't have a choice.

_Maybe she's right,_ he thought, biting his lip. _I'm too soft to work for the Shogun._

As Rei turned his head just slightly to catch his eyes, Minoru felt something like the sound of a low bell pass through him, and was left shaken and cold in its wake.

"Samurai-san, are you alright?"

Minoru shook his head to clear it, but it had no effect. He didn't even have the strength the keep the hold, and Rei slipped out of it easily to stand in front of him.

"Samurai-san, I'm worried that you may be sick, so perhaps you should take a rest. Sitting up here for so long in the sun can make you feel very tired if you're not careful."

Minoru tried to protest, but he found he didn't have the strength. He didn't _feel_ drugged and there hadn't been an opportunity for anything to be slipped to him, but his limbs felt like they were filled with lead, and it was becoming difficult to keep his head up.

"I understand your anxiety, Samurai-san, especially since you don't appear to be familiar with these parts" Rei bowed his head, and Minoru could have sworn that something like victory briefly flashed across his face. "But I think that it's not unreasonable to think that it's entirely possible two paths can cross more than once entirely by accident."

"Twice is an accident," Minoru managed, feeling out of breath. "Three isn't. And if I _do_ see you again I won't be nearly as nice. Now get out of here."

Rei bowed again and began to back away down the road, keeping his head down. Once Minoru was sure that he was actually gone, he struggled to his feet and kicked tuft of grass in frustration.

"Damn it!" he glanced over the cliff at the estate and countryside below, his head swimming. _Sorry, Kaede,_ he thought, disgusted with himself_, I know you would have handled that much better._

He sighed and shook his head. Now he just had to hope that nothing important had happened during all that…

_**Simultaneously, at the Estate of the Fujiwara Family**_

"Saya-hime, I do believe you're in trouble!"

Fujiwara Saya looked up from her cup of tea and narrowed her eyes at the white-haired boy who had suddenly appeared in front of her on the terrace. She flexed her hand and prepared to summon her weapon, but Nagi shook his head and held up his hands in surrender.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not the one responsible for this. If anything, it's your fault for going out and playing hero in plain view like that."

Saya sighed and rose to her feet. She would obviously not be able to finish her tea anytime soon.

"Need I remind you that _you_ were the one who told me that my powers were mine to do with as I wish, Nagi?" she fixed him with an icy stare, but he merely shot a smile in her direction that showed far too many teeth, like a shark.

"But Saya-hime," he said venomously. "I also said that this would someday come to an end, did I not?"

Saya grit her teeth and looked out over the fertile valley below her, which was now awash with the reds and oranges of the setting sun.

"You did," she said quietly, perhaps to herself. "But these are my people, and I could not just leave them to die."

Nagi chuckled at the sentiment and turned his back to her, whistling in appreciation at the room that lay beyond the balcony, which was decked out in silk screens depicting scenes from mythology and filled with pottery and woodwork from all over Japan. But that wasn't all there was to the lady of the house.

Saya's noble lineage was apparent just from looking at her, as unlike most of the hard-bitten noble girls in outlying areas like this everything about Saya suggested grace and purity, from the long dark hair that flowed down her back to her oddly violet eyes that held both warmth and mystery. Nagi had seen the people of Fuuka and their initially wariness towards this stranger from Kyoto, but over time they'd all come to accept and love her.

Well, almost all of them.

"How noble of you," Nagi said blithely, smoothing out the fabric on the front of the simple grey cotton kimono he wore as if it were fine silk. "I'm sure they appreciate it – especially the one who ratted you out to the Shogun for money."

Saya nearly dropped her cup at his words and stared at him in disbelief before a cold sort of understanding descended upon her.

"I see, so that means Sakuya is coming" she put the cup down carefully on the wooden tray at her side. "Then it appears I have no choice. I'll have to make a last stand here, one way or another."

She glanced in Nagi's direction, but in the space he'd occupied a moment before there was only emptiness and a vague echo of laughter. Saya silently swore that if she ever saw him again, he'd be on the receiving end of her naginata.

Pushing her anger to a far corner of her mind, Saya pulled her kimono tighter around herself and moved into the house. Even if they were indeed coming for her, she still had time to make arrangements…

**- End Part III**

--

**Notes:** From here the plot is very much going to pick up, and we'll see a bit more of Mashiro and what's going on around her in the next chapter. But once again, notes!

**Cipangu:** This is one of the names Japan was historically called by people from outside the country, and this word is a literal Chinese reading of the characters. Since the Searrs boat is off of China they use the Chinese pronunciation.

**The Searrs Boat:** One problem I kept having while writing this was taking into account how long it took to travel between places in those days. I was originally going to have the Searrs headquarters be in America and have them get the news there, but then I realized it would take far too long for the news to reach them for my purposes, so instead their base is on a boat relatively close the action, and I just implied at the end that they moved to America. Also, the HMS in the name of the boat isn't a mistake – I originally had it that Searrs was originally based in Britain, so this is a carryover from that idea.

**Valkyrie:** This is a bit of an Epileptic Tree of mine about why Searrs calls the HiME what they do. In Norse Mythology the Valkyries were in charge of spiriting the souls of noble warriors to the gates of Heaven, and Searrs seems to think of the HiME as a means to reach what they see as Heaven on earth. We'll see a bit later why they use the term "Princess" to refer to the girls.

**Minoru's disguise:** The reason Minoru is so sure that his disguise will spare him trouble is because during the Edo Period samurai were authorized to strike down any peasants who disrespected them, so naturally no one would unnecessarily bother Minoru if they thought he was one. If it's not already clear, Tokugawa Japan was _not_ a very nice place.

**The Fujiwara Clan:** This clan was historically closely tied with the Imperial Family, and traditionally produced the wives and consorts of the Emperors. Though their power waned during the Tokugawa years they still maintained a significant influence over political matters and had several different branch houses around the country. Nagi refers to Saya as "hime" in a mostly mocking way, since she would be considered a princess even by noble standards.


	4. Part IV

_**The Minagi Household, East of the Fuuka Shrine**_

Hokuto looked up as she heard Rei enter their small wooden house, and was surprised and troubled that he hadn't announced his arrival like he usually did. She set aside the vegetables she was chopping up and moved out into the entranceway, where her twin was sitting on the edge of the floor and untying his sandals.

"I'm glad you're back," she said, mostly to break the oppressive silence. "I was surprised that you took as long as you did, especially since you left the Shrine before me."

Rei shrugged and stepped up onto the floor in his bare feet. "I just took the long route home, that's all. There's a wonderful view if you go over the Eastern cliffs, and…"

"Rei," Hokuto interrupted, narrowing her eyes. "I'm the _last_ person you should be feeding this crap to. Something happened."

He met her gaze evenly, and she could see distinctly that there were shadows under his eyes that had not been there at the Shrine.

"It was nothing big."

"But it was _something_," she retorted. "I'm not ignorant, Rei, and I know that you went to Edo for more than just 'business'!" she balled her hands into fists at her sides. "We're supposed to be in this together, but you keep…!"

She paused, biting back fierce words, and he sighed, throwing up his hands in submission.

"You're right. Tell you what, I'll fill you in once I get some of this grime off of me," he moved around the square fire pit in the center of the room to where a bowl of water and a face cloth sat prepared for him.

"Alright," she said, still miffed at him. "But I want _answers_."

Once Rei had rinsed off the sweat and dirt to his satisfaction the twins sat down on opposite sides of the fire pit, with the stew Hokuto had prepared earlier simmering between them over the flames.

"So what happened?" she said, getting right to business, and Rei couldn't help but smile. Despite what people tended to think, it was actually the female Minagi twin who had the lion's share of tenacity despite her usually friendly and submissive persona.

"There was a disturbance in Edo," he began. "They found and killed another one. This one was the Tiger. She'd actually awakened, so she put up a good fight, but they got the jump on her and her family," he folded his hands in front of him and stared into the fire pensively.

"And you didn't think this was important for me to know _why_ exactly?" Hokuto said irritably. Rei glanced up briefly at her before continuing.

"I followed one of the men who left the home of the girl, and sure enough he came straight here. He's currently above the cliffs, looking down on the Fujiwara Estate."

Rei left out the part about their confrontation and his use of a mind trick to get out of it, deciding that it wasn't something his twin needed to know.

Hokuto considered what he'd said for a moment before clenching her fists in her lap. "I see. So they've closed in on us."

Rei shook his head sadly. "They're definitely planning for a strong push towards us, and now they have all of them gathered in one place. It's the perfect set up for them – they're control freaks – they think they can control us and the situation now that it's in a small space. Damn Tokugawa."

Hokuto looked up at him, something dangerous in her expression.

"But you're not going to allow that, are you?"

"Whatever do you mean, dear sister?" Rei said smoothly, keeping his face absolutely blank.

"Rei, stop it," she spat back. "You've been interfering in this for years, and I know Nagi's in on it too. You don't fool me."

A slow smile crept up Rei's mouth, but otherwise his expression didn't change.

"I'm only interfering to counter how much _they've_ been interfering for their own ends, Hokuto. I'm just evening the odds."

She made a disgusted noise. "Evening the odds in favor of _your _own ends, you mean. I know you hate that woman and what's she's been doing, but this will come back and bite you someday. You can't just keep doing this without consequence."

"Maybe," he said calmly. "But I don't care. They're the ones who've decided to make a mockery of this process by killing them before they even awaken. And I've stayed within the rules."

Hokuto shook her head. All this was coming too fast, and the Rei she'd grown up with –

the one who never told a lie and had always needed her support – was being chipped away, little by little, and she didn't like what was being uncovered.

"Onii-san," she said quietly, if not a little desperately. "Don't do anything foolish."

"I won't," he said with a reassuring smile. "I was _born_ for this, Hokuto. I know what I'm doing."

_That's the problem_, she thought, biting her lip. _And there's nothing either of us can do about it now._

"Now, in light of these recent developments I have to ask a favor of you, sister," Rei said, the shadows under his eyes seeming to grow deeper. "And it involves Mashiro…"

_**Outside the Estate of the Fujiwara Family, Fuuka**_

Kaede frowned as they approached the gates of the Fujiwara Estate. It was oddly quiet, even for this time of night, and there were no lights visible from their position half a mile down the road. She motioned for one of her men.

"Any word from our watches?" she asked under her breath. He shook his head, and she suppressed an annoyed swear.

They were still in their guise as a procession from the Shogun, and all her men were disguised as members of the Court on a visit to one of the Fujiwara. It was odd that Saya hadn't come out to personally greet her childhood friend, but Minoru's late-day report via one of her couriers hadn't mentioned anything unusual besides an oddly forward local and a severe case of dizziness on his part, and none of their other sentries had reported anything out of the ordinary.

Nonetheless, Kaede found herself bristling under the heavy blue-and-gold embroidered formal kimono she was wearing, and made a note to spare herself the trouble of having to do it up next time and simply use a male disguise. That and she could already feel that the heavy makeup on her face was beginning to crack.

Sakuya poked her head out from under the cloth flap of the palanquin held up by four of their men with sour expression on her face.

"Kaede, what's going on?"

"We don't know, Ojou-sama," she responded, trying to keep from letting on how irritated she was. "We sent someone ahead, but the people at the gate said that the Lady Fujiwara is feeling ill and does not to wish for company tonight."

"She's onto us," Sakuya muttered. "Saya's clever, and since she's been hiding from us for so long she must _know_ what we're here for…"

"I wouldn't jump to conclusions, Ojou-sama," Kaede said firmly. "We have no certifiable reason to think that our cover has been compromised. The Lady Fujiwara may just not want company tonight."

Sakuya, however, clearly wasn't convinced, and jumped down onto the ground beside them. The four guards who were holding the palanquin stumbled slightly at the sudden shift in weight by said nothing. Kaede saw several of the other guards glance nervously at Sakuya, for they all knew how the lady acted when she was denied something.

"Kaede, hand me my naginata," Sakuya said, holding out her hand expectantly.

Kaede hesitated for just a second, and found herself fixed with an icy stare. However, she wasn't one to give in that easily, especially when the plan her mistress was proposing went absolutely against both battle strategy and common sense.

"Ojou-sama, it would be wise to wait until daylight before doing anything. No one will get in or out during that time with our people watching."

Sakuya looked ready to protest, but then reluctantly turned away and climbed back into her palanquin, looking for all purposes like a small child that had been cheated out of a treat. Kaede suppressed as sigh and leaned against the side of the palanquin, feeling her feet protest to the uncomfortable wood sandals she had been made to wear. That's it, she thought, next time she'd cross-dress. She'd have a much easier time simply passing as a short man, and she would be able to forgo the elaborate get-up.

"Sakuya-sama, Kaede-sama, I respectfully suggest that we head to the Lord of Fuuka's Estate," Takaya, her third-in-command, said loud enough for anyone who might be listening in on them from his horse at the front of their line, where he was posing as one of the Shogun's advisors. "It doesn't look like the Lady Fujiwara wants company, and we all need our rest after that journey."

Kaede smiled a bit at his ability to keep up the act even after everyone else had dropped it out of tiredness, and made a mental note to have him promoted once this was over with. She could hear Saya grumbling as the procession turned around and began to head back down the road, but Kaede was relieved that she had one less thing to worry about now.

She glanced over her shoulder at the Fujiwara Estate, and silently hoped that Saya would enjoy her night. Tomorrow, one way or another, someone was going to die.

_**Fuuka Shrine**_

"Mashiro! Mashiro, _wake up_!"

Mashiro opened her eyes and blinked in confusion. Someone was shaking her shoulder, but it was too dark to make anything out.

"Huh, Hokuto? What's wrong?" she said sleepily, trying to focus on the person in front of her in the dark. Now that her eyes had adjusted a bit she could see that it was definitely her friend, but Hokuto looked oddly animated and awake for this time of night, especially in her eyes. Mashiro had known her since before she could remember, but nothing like _this_ had ever happened.

"Ah good, you're awake," Hokuto said excitedly. "There's something you just have to see, come on!"

Mashiro tried to protest as she was dragged out of her bed and to her feet, but Hokuto's five year age advantage over her also translated to strength, and she was little more than a limp doll in Hokuto's arms as she was pushed out the door into the courtyard.

"Hey," she said weakly, fighting back a yawn. "Can't this wait till morning? Kogyo-sama had me clean the well, and I'm…"

"This can't wait!" Hokuto said, paying Mashiro's protests no mind. "Really, you're going to love this. Onii-chan found something on the mountain, but we can only see it at night!"

She felt Mashiro's shoulders relax. Sure enough, mentioning Rei had gotten Mashiro to comply. She hated being right when it came to manipulating people.

Luckily the moon was nearly full, so they had plenty of light to go by as they moved up the mountain away from the Shrine below. Hokuto glanced behind her a few times just to make sure they weren't being followed, but nothing moved on the path besides the occasional branch pushed by the wind. It appears that they'd made a clean getaway.

"So, what is this something?" Mashiro asked as they moved off the path to the Shrine and into the woods. "Is it anything I know about?"

"It's a sur prise!" Hokuto said with a beaming grin. "Trust me, you're going to love this."

Once they were a good way down the path Hokuto stuck her foot under a root at an odd angle and tumbled to the ground with a cry, clutching her ankle and feigning pain.

"Hokuto!" Mashiro ran up to help her up, but Hokuto waved her off.

"Ah, I'm fine, it's just my bad ankle. You go on ahead, I'll catch up in a minute."

"But…" Mashiro knelt by her and put her hands on Hokuto's ankle. "I can't just leave you here! Here, I'll help you walk…"

"No, it's alright," Hokuto said, brushing of Mashiro's hands. "If you don't catch this thing at just the right time you'll miss it! Go on ahead to the cliffs, I'll be fine in a few minutes, and don't worry – I know this mountain like the back of my hand. Go on!"

Mashiro hesitated for a moment, but eventually she relented and moved on into the forest, glancing back at Hokuto a few times, but always being waved on.

Once Mashiro disappeared into the forest Hokuto got to her feet, putting her weight fully on her "bad" ankle, and went down another path hidden in the underbrush that would take her to the cliffs another way. One good thing about Kogyo's insistent sheltering of Mashiro was that it had made the girl completely incapable of suspecting people, so that trick had worked like a charm.

_Rei, you owe me for this, _she thought bitterly.

Up ahead, Mashiro fought back the urge to run away as she moved down the path alone. She'd never been this far up the mountain despite her curiosity about it, as Kogyo had strictly forbidden her to go past certain places. But if Rei thought she should see something, maybe it would be okay as long as Kogyo never found out.

She shivered and pulled her white kimono top tighter around herself. It was still pretty warm out, but she was suddenly cold. It was too bad Hokuto hadn't given her any time to get ready, otherwise she would have grabbed a shawl or a jacket…

_Warmth_.

Mashiro blinked. Where had that voice come from? She shook her head and continued on, hoping that whatever she was supposed to see wasn't that much farther ahead.

The cold feeling increased as she entered the clearing where the cliffs towered above her. She stopped dead and stared at a spot in the stone that seemed to pulse with a translucent light stronger than any candle she'd seen before.

_Come here, Mashiro,_ that same voice said again, though it was not so much a sound as something she heard directly in her head. She moved forward as if in a daze towards the light in the rock and reached her hands out to touch it, feeling the warmth emanating from it that she so desperately needed. Her palm touched it, and suddenly the clearing was filled with light so bright that it burned the back of her eyes, and all she could see was whiteness.

She screamed, falling to the ground and backing away, her eyes wide in terror. She could vaguely make out the shape of something emerging from the light – and it was _gigantic._

_Don't be afraid,_ whatever it was told her, spreading its fiery wings and seeming to bow before her. _I am yours to command._

Mashiro's teeth were chattering in fear as the thing came into focus. Its body and claws vaguely resembled a bird, but at the same time it had a marine element to it not unlike a whale, and it had at least six green eyes that stared back at her with an odd sort of intelligence. It was completely unlike anything in this world – or the next, for that matter.

"What – What are you?" she said, feeling incredibly small next to its great white and black body. It lowered its giant head and looked at her with one of those oddly human eyes.

_I am Kagutsuchi, the Child of Flame._

"Ka – Kagutsuchi?!" Mashiro exclaimed. "But… but you're the child of Izanami! You're dead! Your father cut your head off!"

Had the thing just laughed? From the rumbling she felt in her body it seemed that it had.

_So that's the story they're telling now, eh?_ It said. _But I'm very much alive, can't you see? I am your Child, born out of your love and compassion for others._

"Child?" she repeated, rising slowly to her feet. Now that the initial shock of its appearance had worn off she felt oddly unafraid. Somehow, she knew this creature in the deepest place in her heart.

_Mashiro, we do not have much time_, it said, suddenly sounding concerned. _In the time I have been asleep here much has happened, and you are in great danger._

"Danger?" she took a step forward and laid a hand on its head, reveling in its warmth. "What do you mean?"

_This is part of a great cycle,_ _and you are one of those who are chosen to compete in it, _it said, the flames on its wings seeming to grow stronger. _But someone has upset the balance, and things are about to become much more intense. I will fight for you, but you must be prepared for the worst, and be prepared to fight for your life. Hold out your arms._

Mashiro complied, and felt four strands of warmth wrap around her arms and legs. When she looked down again, four gold rings decorated with green magatama had appeared on her limbs.

_Those are your weapons,_ Kagutsuchi said. _Are you ready to use them?_

"I'm ready," Mashiro nodded, somehow sure that she knew this already. For the first time in her life, she truly felt like she had a purpose, and the sensation was nearly intoxicating.

Up on the cliff Hokuto stared down at Mashiro and Kagutsuchi in horror. She breathed slowly, her hands clenched at her sides hard enough to draw blood.

"So that is her Child?" she whispered, feeling anger well up inside of her. "That _monster_ is her Child!"

Hokuto turned from the sight and began to stalk away into the darkness, her thoughts a mishmash of anger and betrayal. Rei had told her that leading Mashiro to her Child was simply to protect her from the Shogun's assassins, but now she could see that the tide had just turned – and not in the direction she had wanted.

She looked up into the sky and cursed at the red star by the Moon that only she could see. Nothing was going right, and it was just getting worse.

_**Meanwhile, at the Shrine**_

Kogyo's eyes snapped open from his meditation and went wide as he looked at the altar. Among the two rows of twelve candles another had just flickered to life, and now 10 candles – five above, five below – shone in the darkness. One more than before.

With a sudden sinking feeling in his gut Kogyo sprinted out into the hallway and threw open the door to the room where Mashiro slept, only to find it empty. He cursed and slammed his fist into the wooden pillar next to him, ignoring the crack of bone and sudden burst of pain in his wrist.

"Rei, you idiot!" he shouted to the darkness. "Do you have any idea what you've just done?!"

He leaned against the pillar and cursed to all of the Gods he could think of. Now there would be no turning back – the Festival had officially begun.

**- End Part IV**

**--**

**Notes:** Now that cat's out of the bag, and they'll be much more of a focus on action. The next few chapters may take me a bit longer as a result, but so far I'm making good progress on this. Stay tuned!

**Izanami and Izanagi: **As mentioned in part II, Izanami and Izanagi were the Gods who created the Eight Islands of Japan in the creation myth, and from their union they bore countless Gods. One of these was Kagutsuchi, the God of Flame, who burned his mother to death when he was born, and had his head cut off by his father in a rage as a result. This Kagutsuchi is a bit different from the one we see in the anime series and a lot less angry, but we'll see how he got to be the way he was by the end of this.

**Kagutsuchi: **This came up a bit earlier when it came to describing Hari, but for the most part I just vaguely outlined what Kagutsuchi looks like. I wasn't sure how to describe him without it getting ridiculous, so for the most part I eschewed a more detailed description and figured that people could look it up if they were really confused (never mind that they didn't _have_ jets or the drill/claws/whatever the heck those are that appear on Hari in the 18th century). On another note, you can definitely tell that the people who did the CHILD designs for the series never had to describe them in writing.


	5. Part V

_**The Fujiwara Estate, the next morning**_

Kaede wasn't sure whether to be relieved or troubled when they met no resistance as they approached the gates. Sakuya had insisted that that they head to the estate as soon as it was light, despite the objections of Kaede and her other guards. Though they still had the external appearance of an official procession, nearly everyone was bristling with hidden weapons under their elaborate costumes, and even Sakuya had been convinced to wear a hidden plate of armor under her kimono.

They paused in front of the gate as one of their men scaled the white-washed brick wall. Kaede gripped the handle of the dagger up her sleeve as he disappeared over the top. She didn't like this situation at all, but in denying Sakuya the opportunity to spill blood the previous night she'd already pushed her luck farther than she really should have, and she sensed that her mistress would not put up with much more.

A moment later the man came down and knelt in front of them.

"Nothing, my Ladies," he said, sounding slightly out of breath. "Not a soul to be seen."

"What?!" Sakuya demanded angrily. "Kaede, you said no one could get in or out!"

"No one should have," Kaede hid her anxiety and replied calmly. "But just because we can't see them doesn't mean they're not there."

Sakuya pondered this for a moment before striding forward towards the gate, her naginata held out in front of her.

"We're going to make a full assault, no holds barred. Understood?"

Kaede grimaced as everyone exchanged glances, and she saw that they all had the same expression of dread. What Sakuya was planning went against everything they'd been taught in strategy, but they had no choice but to follow her.

Clearing her throat, Kaede pointed towards the gate and began a series of hand signals assigning her men positions. They'd keep the main force behind Sakuya, while others swept the grounds to clear out anyone that might be hiding. A smaller contingent around the outer walls would see to it that no one would bolt once the attack began. They still had the advantage in this situation, but it would be all too easy for someone to surprise them if they weren't careful.

She held up her hand and brought it down in a cutting motion towards the gate, the signal for "Go", and her men dispersed in all directions like wisps of smoke caught on the wind. Kaede took a deep breath and stepped forward as the heavy metal gate swung open from the inside with an earth-rending groan. It was now or never.

_**Fuuka Shrine**_

Mashiro found that she couldn't concentrate on sweeping the courtyard. Everything that had happened the previous night spun around in her head: Kagutsuchi, the weapons she'd been given, this "danger" that he'd spoken of… it was too much for her to handle!

"Mashiro!"

She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Kogyo's voice. She turned around to face him and found that he had the same sour expression as always, but there also seemed to be something else conveyed in the way he held himself.

"Y – Yes, Kogyo-sama?" she said, putting on an innocent smile. She saw his eyebrow go up in disbelief.

"You've been sweeping that same spot for about five minutes. Is there something troubling you?"

Mashiro shook her head and moved over to another spot.

"It's nothing, I'm just thinking about a dream I had the other night."

"A dream?" Kogyo inquired, and leaned down slightly to meet her eyes. He always intimidated her by how tall he was.

She swallowed and tried not to appear nervous. "It was pretty strange. But it wasn't scary or anything, just odd. I don't think it was anything serious."

He nodded slowly, holding her gaze.

"I see. Well, just make sure it doesn't interfere with your duties."

"Yes, of course!" she stood straight up and bowed slightly. "Don't worry about me, Kogyo-sama."

He nodded once and began to move towards the other side of the courtyard. Mashiro let out a breath she'd been holding once he was far enough off and scratched the back of her head, deciding to go back to sweeping. If she wanted to keep this a secret she had to at least act normal, especially around Kogyo.

She chanced a glance at him across the courtyard after a few sweeps. He'd raised her since she was an infant, but 11 years later she was no closer to understanding him or why he'd insisted on keeping such a close eye on her.

She nearly dropped her broom as it dawned on her. Could he have known about Kagutsuchi and been keeping him from her? But if she was in such great danger, why would he do that? Wasn't he supposed to be the one protecting her? And what on Earth did Hokuto – who never _had_ caught up with her last night, come to think of it – have to do with all of this?

She groaned and held her head, fighting the sudden urge to drop to the ground and curl up into a ball. This was far too complicated, and all at once, too…

Across the courtyard Kogyo splashed some water on his face and sighed. Mashiro was obviously not intending to tell him what had happened, and he didn't want to let on that he'd known all along what she really was. He shook his head and let it drop against the white stone wall. He'd tried his best to contain things, but other forces seemed determined to undermine everything he'd worked for these past 11 years.

He stood up as he caught sight of a shadow on the wall next to him. Clenching his fists, he turned around slowly and came face to face with Rei.

"I should drive a spike into your skull and leave it there, you idiot! You don't know what you've just unleashed!" he had to resist the urge to fling the wet cloth into Rei's face.

"Now now, Kogyo, we both knew she had to find out eventually," Rei said calmly, a slow smile creeping up his face. "And furthermore, is that any way to talk to your future master?"

"'Master'?" Kogyo narrowed his eyes. "Wait, you haven't…"

"Not yet, but I might as well have," Rei smiled again, but this time it seemed more bitter. "Things are going to pick up quite a bit from here, and currently three of them are about to start at it in the valley."

"Three?" Kogyo stepped back in shock. "For the love of God Rei, what have you…?"

"This wasn't my doing," Rei said, holding up his hands to proclaim his innocence. "It's just three childhood friends who don't want to share. It was bound to get to this eventually."

Kogyo shook his head and put his palms on his temples, fighting back a sudden headache.

"Rei, you don't know what you've done…"

"You keep saying that, but you're wrong," Rei said darkly, and his eyes turned steely and cold. "We can't stop this. You knew this peace couldn't last."

Kogyo turned away, looking across to where Mashiro was still sweeping. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Hokuto…"

"What _about_ Hokuto?" Rei interrupted, a distinct edge to his voice.

Kogyo met his eyes squarely and sighed again. "Alright, Rei, you've gone and done it. I'm not going to fight a battle I can't win. I just hope you're prepared to live with the consequences. _All_ of them."

The two men silently watched Mashiro as she circled and swept the same spot, each of them wrapped up in their own thoughts and oblivious to the others.

_**The Fujiwara Estate**_

The further they went into the estate without any resistance, the more nervous Kaede became. The main residence halls were empty, as were the kitchens, servant's quarters, and the reading rooms. She found herself yearning for Minoru's company, but he was still feeling ill and had not come with them. More than anything, she wished he was here just to inject some humor into the situation.

One of her black-clothed men came up to them out of the shadows.

"My ladies, we've found the Lady Fujiwara. She's in the banquet hall."

Kaede tensed. Had Saya seen the writing on the wall and decided to take her own life? As much as Sakuya would be upset by being denied the slaughter, Kaede found herself hoping that this was the case.

Sakuya had already set off in the direction of the hall without waiting to confirm Saya's status. Kaede stayed two steps behind her, her entire body ready to respond to anything that might come their way. Out of the corners of her eye she saw her men begin to close in on the green-roofed banquet hall from all sides.

Sakuya practically kicked down the paper door and strode in like she owned the place. Her eyes darted around the room before settling on the singular figure seated in the back. The two dozen embroidered square pillows that normally would be filled with important guests were empty, but rather than dwarf Saya as she sat alone they somehow made her appear more powerful.

Kaede's instincts told her to hold back and observe the situation, but Sakuya, always the impatient one, had already begun to cross the hall.

"Ah, Sa-chan," Saya began pleasantly, looking as serene as ever in a violet kimono and obi. "If I'd known you were coming today I would have prepared something. I just got a shipment of jasmine tea in that I think you'd like."

Sakuya brought down the blade of her naginata and pointed it directly at her friend's throat. "Don't waste my time with this drivel, Saya! you know why I'm here."

Saya reached down for the cup at her side and took a sip, seemingly unphased by the entire situation.

"Won't you sit down?" Saya motioned to the orange pillow on her left. "It's been a while since we've seen each other, and I'm sure we have a lot of catching up to…"

"Enough!" Sakuya shouted. "You're a traitor and a liar and I'm here to take your head!"

Saya's eyes narrowed slightly, but she maintained her friendly smile.

"Sakuya, I've been your friend since infancy, but I've never, _ever_ deceived you on purpose," she rose her feet, her long dark hair swishing around her lightly. "Please, consider what you're saying. We can avoid all this."

Sakuya appeared to waver for a moment, but soon her eyes hardened and she tightened the grip on her weapon.

"The very fact that you exist makes you a threat to me. That's why you have to die!"

The two women stared at each other for a moment, purple against orange, and hardness against softness. The air buzzed with tension before Saya closed her eyes and sighed.

"It seems I can't change your mind, and God knows there's no stopping you once you've decided on something," her eyes snapped open. "Alright then, I didn't want it to come to this, but you leave me no choice. _Kiyohime_!"

The ground under their feet began to groan and shake. Kaede grabbed Sakuya around the waist and pulled her away scant seconds before the wooden floor split with a deafening _crack_, and a massive purple shape rose from the wreckage with a roar.

"Oh dear God…" someone said, and Kaede had to agree with the sentiment. Whatever it was nearly filled the entire hall, its great snake-like body moved across the hall to wrap around the area around its mistress like it a shield. Eight heads turned to look at them and hissed, baring all of its fangs and creating a row of sharp teeth. Saya stood serenely in its coils and held out her arm, and a red naginata topped with a nasty looking blade materialized in her hand.

"I warned you, Sakuya," Saya said, and her Child hissed at them again. "But you just had to charge in like a fool like you always do. I hope you're ready for this."

Sakuya was obviously shaken, but she somehow managed a devilish smile despite her fear.

"You're the one who's a fool, Saya!" she shouted. "And you're about to see why! _Yatagarasu_!"

The air behind Sakuya began to waver, and a moment later a monstrous three-legged black bird spread its wings over her protectively as it gave an ear-splitting _caw_. Sakuya's grin widened as Saya's face fell at the sight of it.

"The Sun Bird!" Saya whispered in equal parts awe and disgust.

"This is why you can't win," Sakuya said smugly. "Divine favor has turned away from your family, and now it rests with me!"

Saya grit her teeth but said nothing, though Kiyohime hissed and began to coil itself around its mistress protectively.

"Is that what you really think?" Saya said quietly. "You accuse me of being a liar, but you're the one who's being lied to about–!"

Saya never managed to finish her sentence, for Kaede had appeared in the air behind her with a knife in hand. Saya only just managed to block the blade with the pole of her naginata, but it still took out a potion of her kimono's neckline. Kaede leaped out of the way and crouched on the ground near one of the doors, already producing more knives from their hiding places up her sleeves.

"_Kaede_!" Sakuya yelled. "I _told_ you to leave her to _me_!"

Kaede cursed under her breath and took off across the hall, just as Kiyohime's tail crashed through wall where she had been just a moment before, reducing it to splinters.

"So the innocent handmaiden finally shows her true colors," Saya said darkly. "You never fooled me for a moment, though."

"Damn it!" Kaede tore off her outer kimono to uncover her dark battle clothing and paused against the far wall to collect herself. She'd hoped to simply end this in one blow, but things were not working in her favor. She watched the two women and their Childs stare each other down as she scrambled for a way to make this work to their advantage.

Kiyohime whipped its tail around again, and this time she wasn't fast enough to avoid it. She flew across the room and hit one of the wooden support columns with a sickening _crack _before falling to the ground in a twisted heap.

Yatagarasu shrieked and launched itself as Kiyohime, and both Childs landed in a heap of scales and feathers as they fought tooth and nail on the floor. Sakuya took the opportunity to charge at Saya, but she hadn't been expecting the red naginata to reach out and wrap itself around her weapon like a snake. Sakuya stared in horror as the pole was snapped in half like a twig between her hands.

"What's wrong, Sakuya?" Saya said venomously. "Or is it that without a weapon you're suddenly helpless? Some Shogun's daughter you are!"

Sakuya ran at her with an enraged cry, the blunt side of her broken naginata raised over her head. Saya leveled her weapon at Sakuya's chest and smiled triumphantly, shifting her feet in preparation for a strike.

She never got to make it, for just then Takaya rushed out from his hiding place and knocked her off her feet. The blow was hard enough to knock her through the wall on the other side of the hall and out into the yard.

"What the _Hell_ are you doing?!" Sakuya screamed. "I told you that she's _mine_!"

In response Takaya held out a new, unbroken naginata and bowed.

"It works much better when you have a working weapon, my Lady."

She made a face and snatched it out of his hand, and began after Saya through the hole in the wall. Takaya ran across the room and helped Kaede to her feet, quickly checking her for any broken bones or other serious injuries.

"Remind me to have you promoted," she said wearily, shaking her head to clear it. "Assuming we survive this."

"Think positively, Commander," he said, steering them out into the courtyard and leaning her against a giant ornamental boulder. "But what do we do now?"

"We've got her running, now we'll just herd her towards the servant's quarters," Kaede paused and looked directly at him. "I have an idea."

"But what about…?" Takaya gestured towards the two Childs, who were still grappling on the floor. Kaede shook her head and let go of him, taking a few wobbling steps away.

"We'll be crushed if we try to do anything with them. Let them at it, they're evenly matched. But if we kill Saya, that'll take care of the monster too."

"Understood," Takaya said, and with that he took off after Sakuya. Kaede paused to take a breath against the boulder steady herself. If this plan worked, it would solve all of their problems… and she didn't even want to _think_ about what would happen if it failed.

A short distance away, Saya knocked down two knives headed for and whipped her naginata at the thrower, tearing him in half before he could scream. She quickly ducked behind a screen and into one of the servant's quarters.

She winced as she surveyed her physical state and slumped against the wall. They'd managed to break at least one of her ribs with that kick, and it was harder to raise her right arm. She winced, and for the first time since this had begun she was honestly not sure if she was going to survive.

Using her naginata as a crutch, she struggled to her feet and briefly reached out with her mind to Kiyohime. She could tell that she was still fighting on par with Yatagarasu. It would not be the Childs who decided this battle, she realized, but rather the women. She grimaced as her side throbbed, but decided to press on. One blow wasn't enough to take her down, and she still had a good fight left in her.

Something moved behind screen to her right, and she whipped her naginata through it with a simple flick of her wrist. She blinked, seeing that there was nothing there, but she realized too late where the real threat was.

"_Gennai!_"

A light flared up to her left, and she was suddenly unable to move anything but her eyes. Once the spots had faded from her vision she saw Kaede, who was standing on the back of a massive frog-like creature in the now-open doorway to the other room. Kaede's arm was still extended from a throw, and out of the the corner of her eye Saya could see that a knife had pinned her shadow to the ground.

Kaede smirked at the look of terror in Saya's eyes and cupped her hands around her mouth.

"She's in here, Ojou-sama!"

From down the hall there came a set of thundering footsteps. Kaede and Saya exchanged once last glance of terror and victory before the door shut on Kaede and Gennai, leaving Saya pinned like an insect where she was. A few seconds later the hallway-side door flew open, and Sakuya charged in with her weapon raised over her head.

"Got you!"

It was over in less than a second, and a line of blood spattered on the white screens of the room like some sort of sick paining. Saya dropped to the ground like a stone, her throat cut and her eyes staring up blankly in shock. The knife that had held her in place, however, was nowhere to be seen.

Inside the reception hall Kiyohime gave a keening cry and collapsed in on itself, a mass of coils and sparks. Yatagarasu flew out of range and watched the other Child with an almost human expression of contempt, while the few of Kaede's men who'd stayed behind around the hall breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Back in the servant's quarters, Sakuya panted as she stood over Saya's body.

"Saya…" she brought her naginata over her head and flicking the excess blood down onto her friend's face. "You traitorous bitch."

She turned away in disgust, readjusting her kimono with her free hand as she made her way back to the reception hall. Yatagarasu glanced at her briefly and made an almost pleading noise, but she paid it no mind and instead went to Takaya. He was tending to one of the men who'd been knocked away by Kiyohime, but he looked up as soon as he saw her.

"Are you hurt, Ojou-sama?" he asked. She shook her head.

"I'm not," she said callously. "But I trust you'll be able to clean this up?"

"Of course, Ojou-sama," he said. "You can head back to the Lord of Fuuka's estate if you wish. We will take care of everything here."

"And a cover story?"

"Already on it, Ojou-sama. You have nothing to worry about."

She gave a small _huff_ and began to turn away before something seemed to occur to her.

"Where's Kaede?"

"Searching for the missing servants, Ojou-sama. She thinks they may have used an underground passage."

Sakuya nodded.

"Tell her that when she gets back to the estate she had better look her best."

"Of course."

Sakuya moved off towards the front gate, and once she was gone Takaya allowed himself to sigh in frustration. He was glad this was over, but she was really staring to wear on him.

Up in one of the treetops Nagi watched the scene and shook his head slowly.

**- End Part V**

**--**

**Notes: **I did not in fact forget about this project, as some may have feared. Moving out to Boston to go to college along with all the related stresses simply meant that it wasn't until I had gotten settled that I had the time to put the final polish on this chapter. Actions scenes are hard for me, so this took a long time to get to the point where I'm satisfied.

**A Lady taking her own life:** During the Feudal Period it was common practice for a samurai woman to cut her jugular if it appeared that her home was going to be taken. This was done mainly to give her an honorable death and prevent capture or rape, but because women would tie their keens together before they cut their throats it also ensured that they were found in a dignified pose. This was known as _jigai, _and was the female counterpart to the more well known practice of _seppuku_.

**The Sun Bird:** Sakuya's, and by extension Shiho's, CHILD is based on the Three-Legged Bird of Asian mythology. It is associated with the sun, and by extension with the Shinto Sun Goddess Amaterasu, and by extension the Japanese Imperial Family, who are said to be her earthly descendents. By saying that it is on her side Sakuya is implying that Saya's family, the Fujiwara, have lost the favor of the Imperial family, and therefore almost all of their power.


	6. Part VI

_**The Estate of the Lord of Fuuka**_

Minoru had been watching Kaede the entire time since the party had returned, and he didn't like what he was seeing. Sure, she looked absolutely beautiful, her makeup was pristine, her hair was done up in an elaborate smile, and her clothing was practically shining, but the more he watched her the more he became concerned. She was trying to cover it up through flirting with the other noble men and laughing at every joke, but there was just something off about her that he couldn't put his finger on.

When he could no longer take it he politely excused himself from the banquet table and moved along the side of the hall, weaving between the guests as carefully as he could. He managed to briefly catch Kaede's eye before he ducked out into the garden, and a few moments later she joined him in the cool night air.

"The moon's lovely tonight," he commented off-handedly, leaning against one of the large boulders in the garden. "Will it be full soon? I don't remember."

"It will," as she spoke he could see that the partygoing persona had fallen away from her, and Minoru felt oddly relieved to see the real her again.

"How are you doing?" he said quietly, trying to see her in the dim light.

She shrugged and leaned against the edge of the porch. "What can I say that you don't already know? We lost a few men and I got thrown around, but we accomplished our mission. That's what counts."

"What about Sakuya?" he asked.

"She's playing the victim," Kaede narrowed her eyes in disgust. "She's weeping her eyes out to the Lord of Fuuka about how Saya was out of her mind and she was forced to defend herself and kill her best friend, but she's enjoying every minute of it."

She stared off into space for a moment. "I don't understand that girl. Your first kill isn't _supposed_ to work like that. Otherwise…" she trailed off, as if she didn't dare continue the thought for what it might cause her to realize.

"Maybe it'll hit later," he suggested, trying to break the awkward silence.

"I don't think so," she said bitterly. "It's just…" she paused, bringing her hand to her forehead. "I shouldn't be doing this…"

"It's alright to be upset."

"Not that," she said tersely. "Talking to you. It's not your job to hear me complain… It's not right."

Minoru considered this for a moment before he looked squarely at her. "I don't mind."

She shook her head and turned back towards the house.

"I can't stay here, or I'll do something I…"

Minoru grabbed her wrist to stop her. Anyone else she would have knocked him away, but she simply stared at him in disbelief.

"Kaede," he said firmly. "You know I care about you."

She glared at him and twisted out of his hold, but he let her go back inside. He sighed and leaned against the boulder again.

"It doesn't get any easier, does it?" he said to himself, and set off into the garden to gather his thoughts.

He didn't realize that a pair of garnet eyes had been watching them the entire time from the top of the wall.

_**The Minagi Household, East of the Fuuka Shrine**_

That night, Hokuto sat alone in the empty house. Only the fire in the hearth provided any sort of light in the dark room, and it was already starting to go out. She stared into the embers as she absent-mindedly fingered the pendant around her neck, as if she might be able to awaken something inside of it.

She was startled out of her trance by the sound someone rapping on the door. She instinctively reached to her side and touched the hilt of a large black sword.

"Hokuto?" Mashiro called. "Hokuto, are you there? It's me."

She didn't respond, instead falling further back into the shadows. She watched as Mashiro hesitantly took a few steps inside, wringing her hands in front of her.

"Pardon the intrusion…" she said nervously, glancing around for any sign of life. She could not see Hokuto, but she clearly sensed something was amiss.

"I guess you're not here," she muttered, pausing in the center of the room. "I wish you were. I'm scared, Kogyo's acting weird, I haven't seen Rei for a while now, and I still don't know what happened the other night. I just…" she sighed and buried her face in her hands. "I just want to know what's going on, but no one's telling me anything!"

Hokuto said nothing, her jaw clenched so tight that it was beginning to hurt. Mashiro continued to stand there for a few moments, but eventually she turned to leave. She glanced back once as if she _knew _Hokuto was just hiding, and it was only due to Hokuto's extremely good self control and devotion to her brother that she didn't simply leap after the other girl and end it right then.

Hokuto clutched the pendant a little tighter as Mashiro's footsteps faded. It was going to be a long night.


End file.
